Goodbye LA, Hello World: Green River Ordinance Right on Track with “Out of My Hands”

by dentonramsey

Goodbye LA, Hello World: Green River Ordinance Right on Track with “Out of My Hands”

By Denton Ramsey

Hailing from the Lone Star State and playing all around the globe, Green River Ordinance has got to be the best band you’ve never heard of.

With absolutely amazing acoustics and an overall Collective Soul sound, these Texas musicians rock the waves from their first track to their final note in “Out of My Hands.”

From Outside to Endlessly, these guys are the next big thing in music. Think Sister Hazel with a twist of Matchbox 20.

Speaking of Sister Hazel, GRO (as the band is known by their fans) recently played on the Rock Boat.

“It’s a boat full of real music lovers,” GRO lead singer Josh Jenkins told The Dallas Morning News. “We’ve experienced, since the boat, a lot of people coming to shows that had been [on the cruise]. These people tell their friends about you and offer up their homes. It’s just a different level of fans.”

A different level of fans for a different kind of band; and what a great band GRO is.

And what a great time period to be influenced (by some of the best musicians ever, at least in my opinion).

A question many ask the band, and one I have seen in both reviews as well as radio interviews, is “Why the name Green River Ordinance?”

To put it simply, the band really just thought the name was cool.

“That was just something that Jamey [Ice] and Geoff [Ice] had before I joined the band,” Jenkins said. “It was on a sign in their garage that said ‘Green River Ordinance Enforced.’ It was just peculiar and odd, so it kinda stuck.”

Green River Ordinance is actually a reference to a law that prohibits door-to-doors sales, but regardless of the name’s history, these guys are truly Southern comfort.

“I think it’s inevitable for us to have a Southern twist, being from Texas,” Jenkins said. “We believe our personality comes out in the songs we wrote for the record. Since we were 16, we’ve gone through so much as people. These songs are like babies you give birth to.”

If that’s the case, GRO has some oh-so-sweet offspring, and I personally love every song on the album.

“My dad was a Deadhead,” Jamey Ice told Texas Music. “He’s the one who bought us guitars and took us to lessons.”

The parents of GRO’s members have every reason to be proud of their boys; and with a truly sweet album on their hands, it’s only a matter of time before Green River Ordinance becomes a household name.

“We want to write music that’s real, for sure,” Jamey Ice said. “But we also want to write music that’s hopeful.”

“Out of My Hands” is all that and then some, with a bit of real and a dose of hope mixed together in a guitar-induced sound that will have you hooked in no time…
Denton Ramsey may be reached via email at denton.ramsey@gmail.com